User:BKFREEDOM/sandbox

Mission
Our mission is to promote Same Gender Loving & Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender pride in Harlem and to provide opportunities for networking and communication among its SGL & LGBT organizations and community members.

Origins
In 2010, Harlem Pride's founders saw an opportunity to celebrate not just our SGL & LGBT community, but its role and contributions to Harlem's rich history and thus Harlem Pride was born. Our mission is to promote Same Gender Loving & Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender pride in Harlem and to provide opportunities for networking and communication among its SGL & LGBT organizations and community members. These opportunities are organized for and on behalf of all Same Gender Loving & Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender individuals and groups, and all others who support the struggle for the liberation of these communities. We invite the participation of all, regardless of age, creed, gender, gender identification, HIV status, national origin, physical, mental or developmental ability, race, religion or sexual origin.

The inaugural Harlem Pride Day Celebration was held on W. 119th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues, on Saturday, June 26, 2010 and hosted over three-thousand guests. Each year, during the last weekend in June, our pride celebration will consist of a VIP Launch Party on Friday, a Harlem Pride Day Celebration on Saturday, and a Harlem Pride Family Day on Sunday.

Since 2010, Harlem Pride has expanded to include monthly seminars and workshops, social events, and other community outreach activities.

Harlem Pride was incorporated in New York State as a Not-For-Profit Corporation in 2010, and received its retroactive 501(c)(3) tax exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service in 2011. Harlem Pride is a Registered Charity in New York State. All donations are Tax Deductible.

In late 2009, Lawrence Rodriguez (owner/curator of Casa Frela Gallery)was planning his annual PRIDE exhibit for 2010. Carmen Neely, who would become President of Harlem Pride, was helping him with this effort. Sharing stories of past Pride events they had attended, Lawrence and Carmen came up with the idea to have the exhibit serve as a celebration of Harlem Pride. Still in the planning phase for the exhibit, Lawrence learned that his block association had planned to have a block party during Pride Weekend in June,and asked to join the party. The block association replied with a resounding "Yes!", and the exhibit turned into a block party. So the planning of what would become the first official Harlem Pride began.

By January 2010, Harlem Pride was in full swing of planning and promoting the event. The organization incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in the state of New York, receiving their 501(c)3 tax exempt status in February 2011.

Recent history
In January 2012, Harlem Pride created a petition to bring a community pride center to Harlem. The organization recognized nice the need for such a facility largely via the sentiments expressed by their constituents. Though home to New York City's second-largest SGL/LGBT population outside Brooklyn, Harlem has never had its very own community pride center. Recognizing the ever-evolving tapestry of Uptown's demographics, Harlem Pride sees this as a perfect opportunity to reintroduce the spirit of Harlem's SGL/LGBT community from years of yore, when ladies and gentlemen of every ethnicity in New York City and its surrounding areas flocked to its balls and lavish house parties to experience community and freedom. In line with this sentiment, the President of Harlem Pride states, "We want to be perfectly clear that Harlem Pride is for all of Harlem, from those who dwell within its geographic confines to those who call Harlem home in their hearts. We want to epitomize what it is to be inclusive." Currently in the process of soliciting support from elected officials, foundations, local businesses and community members, Harlem Pride hopes to open the doors to the Harlem Community Pride Center by the end of its fiscal year in 2015.